CWI agrees to change CPL schedule on BCCI's request

PSL 2021 | LHQ vs KRK: Noor Ahmad, Amir nullify fighting Tim David and Faulkner to keep Karachi alive

It was supposed to be the biggest match of the Abu Dhabi leg’s group stage as it was between the two biggest cities of Pakistan also the two biggest sporting rivals. Although Karachi in the ned won it by seven runs and seven runs is a huge margin in T20 cricket, but it was not at all as easy as it might seem from the end result. Lahore vs Karachi could be compared to the usual Delhi vs Mumbai affair in IPL terms or Liverpool vs Manchester in Football terms. The match turned out to be exactly as was expected a see-saw battle that went on fr the entire 40 overs of the game, with no team seeming to have full control at any point in time. Chasing a total of 177, the Qalandars got off to a flyer aggregating 34 runs in the first three overs. From the fourth over onwards the Kings started pulling things back as Mohammad Amir bowled a brilliant over, conceding just three runs. In the very next over, Mohammad Ilyas struck and got the Qlanadars skipper Sohail Akhtar out for 21. From there on, Imad Wasim’s men starting tightening the noose on the Qalandars as left-arm spin was introduced from all ends. Afghanistan’s teen sensation Noor Ahmad was hard to read even for experienced campaigners like Mohammad Hafeez. He was the pick of the bowlers for Karachi, striking twice in his four overs and ending with the figures of 2-19. Noor got the wickets of Hafeez and Ben Dunk even as the pressure applied by him resulted in two other wickets, Salman Agha getting run out and Fakhar Zaman being bowled by Imad. Ahamd, 16, was adjudged Man of the Match for his efforts. At the end of the 14th over, Qalandars were 92/5, needing 85 from six overs with Tim David and James Faulkner at the crease. From there on the game took a complete 360-degree turn as the two Hobart Hurricanes players 58 runs in just 23 balls. But David, trying to crush the game in just one over, hit a loopy slower straight to Danish Aziz at long-off on the last delivery of the 18th over. It was the same over in which he had hit 19 runs already. The game changed once again. Needing 27 to win from the last two, Faulkner and new man Rashid Khan were put to test against one of the best death bowler Amir. Going for six on the second delivery of his over, the left-arm pacer pulled things back immensely. So much so that he conceded only one run apart from that six in the other five deliveries to give a 20 run cushion for Ilyas to defend. The 22-year-old did defend those 20 runs, getting Faulkner caught at the 3rd delivery and forcing Rashid to go all out as Qalandars needed 18 to win from three balls. He hit a six on the fourth ball and suddenly only two more of those sixes were required. However, it wasn’t going to be, as only four runs game of the last two balls, handling Karachi the much-needed win. With this win, the kings have now moved up to 8 points from nine games and are threatening the other three teams, Qalandars, Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi for a place in the Playoffs. For Qalandars it was their third loss in a row and skipper Khtar would now be under the pump as the Playoffs qualification hangs by the thread when his team faces Multan Sultans on June 18. “Our batting has been poor after the 6-7 overs. We will sit down and talk about batting. The bowling has been good,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony. Earlier in the night, Imad surprised all by electing to bat first after winning the toss. His decision was validated by Babar Azam and Martin Guptill, who even after a false start by Nasir Jamshed, tailored along and added 88 for the second wicket. But as told earlier the game was a see-saw battle. Even after the foundation being laid, the Kings failed to capitalise, losing four wickets including that of Babar in 23 runs. They did not look like crossing the 160 run mark at the end of the 16th over, struggling at 132-5 with two new men Imad and Aziz at the crease. But as had been the nature of the game, just when it seemed like it was heading in one direction, something unusual happened and this time around it was the 44 runs partnership in 24 balls between the Karachi skipper and Aziz, who was making a comeback into the side. While Imad remained unbeaten on 30 from 19, Aziz scored 16 on 10 balls. Babar was the highest scorer with 54 from 44, that when he was dropped thrice. Reacting to this much-needed win, Imad praised his bowlers for containing Qalandars even after being 20 runs short in the batting. “You should peak at the right time. We have one more game to go. If we win it and qualify, you never know,” he added. Karachi play their last game here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, against Quetta Gladiators who are already out of the tournament and hence could be way more dangerous as it would look to oust the Kings as well. To qualify, Karachi must win, it is as simple as that. If Qalandars win their last game and get to 12 points then the Imad Wasim led team would hope that Islamabad defeat Multan Sultans in the last game. However, if Qalandars lose their last game. A win for Karachi would guarantee them a place in the Playoffs.

WTC Final: Doordarshan to broadcast the event on DD FreeDish and terrestrial network

After a long gap Test cricket will return to the terrestrial and free to air service market in India as the state-owned DD Sports through a special arrangement have acquired the rights for the broadcast of the World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand, beginning Friday, June 18. The match will be available only on DD FreeDish DTH (direct-to-home)’s DD Sports 1 channel and would also be available to Doordarshan's DTT (digital terrestrial television) services in 19 cities. According to News on Air, FreeDish users can also listen to the Live Radio Cricket Commentary of the game at Southampton by All India Radio across the country. Apart from the broadcast of the final match on DD Sports, All India Radio Cricket commentary will be available on DD FreeDish DTH Satellite Radio. All India Radio’s FM Rainbow Channels, FM Local Radio Stations (LRS), Digital Radio Transmitters (DRM) and Additional FM Transmitters would also be able to broadcast the audio commentary by the AIR. “As per Supreme Court directives of 2017, the match shared under the Mandatory Sharing of Sports Signals Act is meant only for Doordarshan's own platforms. Hence it (the tournament) will be available only on DD FreeDish DTH (direct-to-home) and Doordarshan's DTT (digital terrestrial television) services in 19 cities," Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO, Prasar Bharti (the state-owned umbrella body of broadcasting) was quoted as saying to Mint. It is mandatory through the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing With Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007 (or Sports Act) enacted by the Parliament, for private channels to allow for broadcast signals to be shared with Prasar Bharati in case of sporting events of national importance.

ENG W vs IND W | One-off Test, Day 2: Lacklustre Indian middle-order throws away the brilliant start by Shafali and Mandhana

Almost is the cruellest word. It reminds all the things that could have been but weren’t, like it was almost a dream Tets debut for 17-year-old India Women opener Shafali Verma as she almost reached a hundred at Bristol, getting out on 96 trying to hit a straight good length delivery over the mid-off fielder. Just having hit four two balls earlier, there was no need for Verma to go for that shot, but she did nonetheless and as they say you live by the sword and you die by it. But before getting out, she along with Smriti Mandhana put on the highest partnership for the opening wicket for India Women in Tests. They broke the 22-year-old record previously held by Chandrakanta Kaul and Sandhya Agarwal, who scored 132 for the opening wicket against England in 1999. Shafali also achieved the feat of scoring most runs in debut innings for India Women in Test cricket, once again beating Kaul's 75, which she had achieved on that successful tour of England. The approach of the rest of the Indian batters post Shafali's dismissal was disappointing, to say the least. The team lost five wickets in a span of just eight overs and three balls. While Verma’s opening partner Mandhana repeated her mistake, trying to score too many runs in too little time, Punam Raut and skipper Mithali Raj were guilty of losing their concentration at the fag end of the day. Shikha Pandey the nightwatchman wasn’t able to watch out either as she was removed by English skipper Heather Knight. Raut got out in one of the funniest and ugly manners at the same time to Knight. She chose a straighter delivery to pad to an off-spinner and then even wasted a review over it. Sophie Ecclestone managed to get Mithali to edge one to the short leg, which was initially given not out, but the review by England overruled it. In the end, it was vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur and all-rounder Deepti Sharma that held the fort and made sure that India didn’t lose any more wickets at the end of Day 2. With 187-5, the Indian team still requires 59 runs to avid the follow on. Earlier, starting at their overnight score of 269-6, English Women added 127 more runs to that score, losing just three more wickets to declare at 396/6. Sopha Dunkley was the tar for the home team with her 27 balls 74. Anya Shrubsole alSO played a brilliant hand scoring 33 balls 47 to support her team.

PSL 2021: Khawaja hits hundred as Islamabad get over Peshawar in high scoring thriller

Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi was supposed to be a high voltage clash and boy did it turn out to be one at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi! Having conceded 247 in the first innings, anyone would have hardly given Zalmi a chance to come back into this game and come as close as requiring 38 from the last two overs. But they did courtesy some fiery innings by experienced domestic pair of Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik and most importantly a threatening cameo by Sherfane Rutherford, who scored 29 off eight balls. Later on, some lusty blows by skipper Wahab Riaz and Iron Man Umaid Asif stretched the chase till the final two overs. However, as the result turned out to be, the team from Peshawar was left ruining conceding so many runs as they lost the game by 15 runs, after scoring only seven in the last over, bowled brilliantly by Akif Javed. By virtue of that loss, the Zalmi ended on 10 points from 10 games in the league and would now have to wait for other games’ results to confirm its birth in the final. Malik top-scored for the black and yellow brigade with 36 balls 68 while Akmal also scored his second fifty of the tournament. For Islamabad, left haded pacer Javed was most successful, picking three wickets for 43 runs to go along with his last over heroics. Zafar Gohar was the most expensive bowler going for 64 runs in his four overs. Reacting to the loss, Zalmi skipper Riaz said, “We are disappointed, but this was also our first-day game here in the second leg, so we will try to do better next time and come back stronger.” Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Zalmi invited Usman Khawaja’s team to bat first. Khawaja who was leading the team in Shadab Khan’s absence as the latter was rested, grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring his maiden PSL fifty and then going on to convert it into a maiden hundred. This was also the first time in PSL’s history that a captain scored a century in a match. On the back of his 56 balls 105 and some clean hitting by the likes of Asif Ali, Brandon Kings and Colin Munro, United achieved the highest total in PSL history. Their 247-2 was eight runs more than their own total of 238 achieved by them during the 2019 PSL. For Zalmi, almost every bowler was expensive except for Shoiab Malik who picked a wicket after conceding just 14 runs in his two overs. Much like Wahab, Khawaja too conceded that bowlers were not on money and that they were one bowler short. “It was a great team effort considering there were several players not playing. I won't be taking anything away from the bowlers considering the main bowlers were resting,” he said. With this win, the United have now reached 14 points winning seven of their nine games and with one to go, they would look to end on a high. In their last game, United will take on Multan Sultans in the last game of the league stage on June 19.